PHILO, Illinois – University of Illinois Police detectives on Wednesday arrested a Philo man who had uploaded about 30 illicit videos depicting child pornography to a popular social media app.
The investigation began in April when the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a tip from Snapchat that someone had uploaded a pornographic video to the social media app. Two University Police detectives are members of that task force, and U. of I. Police Detective Robert Murphy was assigned to the case.
The social media account used in the crime is owned by Cecil A. Kimble, 22, of Philo, Illinois. Police obtained a search warrant for Kimble’s account and found evidence of 28 additional files depicting apparent child pornography.
They also found two non-pornographic videos of young women checking out at the register of the Philo convenience store where Kimble works. The videos appeared to be surreptitiously recorded from behind the store’s beverage coolers and focused on the women’s buttocks.
University Police served a search warrant Wednesday at Kimble’s residence in the 500 block of Valley View Drive, Philo. Kimble was arrested at that time for possession of child pornography and taken to the Champaign County Jail.
Two University Police detectives are assigned to and contribute a portion of their time to the Illinois Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is part of a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing more than 4,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. The task force is dedicated to investigating, prosecuting, and developing effective responses to internet crimes involving children.
